World
White House Confirms Trump Will Not Yield to Iran Amid Strait of Hormuz Operations
A White House official told Al Jazeera that President Donald Trump will not allow Iran’s government to “manipulate” him as earlier U.S. presidents did. The official said Trump is content to let Iran’s “inevitable collapse” play out and that Washington is in a strong position because it controls the Strait of Hormuz while Iran’s economy is failing. The official added that the strait is open, all naval mines have been removed or detonated, and tens of millions of barrels of oil are being escorted through it daily.
Three people died and 36 were injured in attacks on two Saudi airports, according to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation. The attacks hit Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Tuesday and Wednesday. Two women were killed at Abha; they were residents, one from Morocco and one from Algeria. A further 28 people were hurt there, ranging from minor to severe injuries, including Saudi citizens and two residents from Bangladesh and the Philippines. At King Khalid International Airport, one Sudanese resident died and eight people were injured, including five Saudi citizens, two Egyptian residents and one Pakistani resident. The authority said the attacks also caused property damage and the injured were taken to hospital immediately.
The Houthis say they targeted Riyadh airport with a ballistic missile. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran has lost complete control of the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi‑backed Yemeni government forces say they have gained ground in western Taiz as part of the “Dawn of Yemen” operation.
Iran has warned it will block “illegal routes” created in the Strait of Hormuz, according to an IRGC advisor. The U.S. Central Command has rejected claims by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that Tehran controls the Strait of Hormuz and has closed it, stating that commercial ships and energy supplies, including 20 million barrels of crude oil, are passing through the strait “right now” and that the U.S. and its regional partners “clearly control the strait.”